Tomb Raider's Lara Croft doesn't make things look easy, just possible. Encouraged by the iconic video game character, four YouTube celebrities attempted to "escape" Siberia, just like Lara Croft, in celebration of the Friday launch of Rise of the Tomb Raider.
YouTubers Tom Syndicate, Yammy Xox, Jade Jolie and Oli White accepted Microsoft's challenge and took to the wilds of Siberia with one goal in mind: survive. The four followed in the steps of Lara Croft in Siberia, the setting for the newly launched action-adventure game.
There's rock climbing, but the four didn't appear to be quite as nimble or anywhere near as handy as Lara Croft with her trusty ice ax. There was also ziplining, but thankfully none of them had the nerve to use an ice ax as a handle bar for zipping down the line — that could have gotten ugly really fast.
There was the requisite bow and arrow action, and even howls from a pack of wolves. But there were no tall towers to free climb in the 48-hour challenge. Just like Lara Croft, the four climbed up a snowy mountain through gusty, freezing winds, and they reached the top where a helicopter was set to fetch them right on time to let them know they've finished the challenge.
Meanwhile, Rise of the Tomb Raider, a timed exclusive, is out now for Xbox One. The game is slated for an early 2016 release on PC and a late 2016 launch on PlayStation 4.
For those who've just gotten their hands on the sequel to the 2013 reboot of the Tomb Raider series, Microsoft has provided several tips. And for those who have to wait to play on their platform of choice, these tips will be good in early 2016 and will still be applicable in late 2016.
The first thing to unlock in the skill tree should be the Avid Learner perk, which offers bonus XP for doing what Lara was apparently born to do: raid tombs.
Optional tombs and side mission are only technically optional, according to Microsoft.
"[R]ewards are so incredibly worth it that you'd be silly to pass them up. Unlike in the previous game, optional tombs don't award XP or maps," says Microsoft. "Instead, they give Lara a new skill, one she can't pick up anywhere else. So, yeah, take that 'optional' challenge every time you can."
Also, reading is a pretty big deal this time around. Reading documents increases Lara's language skills and makes it easier for her to decode monoliths.
Check below to have a look at the Siberian challenge:
